In many instances, the payment amount for a transaction may not be a whole number, often times due to product amounts or because of the addition of sales or other types of taxes to a transaction. In situations where cash is used as payment for a transaction, consumers may often provide paper currency in an amount over the transaction amount with the result being that change is distributed to the consumer to account for the difference. In those instances where a transaction is not for a whole number, the change often includes small change to account for the difference caused by the remainder of the transaction amount.
Many currencies often include coins to account for small denominations in the currency that can represent portions of a full unit of currency, such as a quarter or a dime in the United States, each of which represent one-fourth and one-tenth of a dollar, respectively. However, physical coins and other representations of small change may not always be available to a merchant for providing to a consumer, particularly in instances where there is a limited number of the small change instruments in circulation, as is the case in a number of countries. In such situations, merchants often provide products or other considerations as a replacement for the small change that is due to a consumer, such as candy, trinkets, etc.
In some instances, a consumer may prefer to receive the small change rather than an alternative consideration. Over time, the inability to receive the small change may add up to a considerable amount of cash lost to the consumer. This may be detrimental to the consumer, and also to merchants, as the consumer may therefore be unwilling to transact with a merchant that is unable to provide small change for a transaction.
Thus, there is a need for a technical system to provide for the processing of change in cash payment transactions for merchants and consumers. In addition, because the use of sophisticated point of sale systems and banking systems may be unavailable to a merchant or to consumers, such as in rural or developing areas, there is additional need for a technical system for processing change in cash payment transactions that uses short message service (SMS) messages due to the prevailing use of cellular phones and other messaging devices in such areas.